Video purports to show ex-Pakistani Taliban members pledge to Islamic State group, behead man

ISLAMABAD – An online video purports to show former militants of the Pakistani Taliban pledge allegiance to the Islamic State group and behead a man they identify as a soldier.

The video, released Saturday, shows a former Pakistani Taliban spokesman along with dozens of other militants in a wooded area. The former spokesman already announced his support for the Islamic State group in an audio message in October. He was later replaced by the Pakistani Taliban.

Other militant leaders in both Afghanistan and Pakistan also pledge their support to the Islamic State group. At the end of the video, the militants behead a man identified as a Pakistani soldier.

The SITE Intelligence Group, a terrorism monitoring organization, said the video was released by the Islamic State group on Twitter and jihadi forums.